


Different Lie-Cation

by Qantaish



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: How Do I Tag, IM TALKING HUUUUUGE SPOILERS, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Major Spoilers, Oma Kokichi-centric, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ouma not Oma, Pre-Game Akamatsu Kaede, Pre-Game Amami Rantaro, Pre-Game Chabashira Tenko, Pre-Game Harukawa Maki, Pre-Game Iruma Miu, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), Pre-Game Saihara Shuichi, Pre-Game Yumeno Himiko, References to Drugs, Spoilers, all pregame peeps will appear, hello i deleted my whole fanfiction, i'll tag as they show up - Freeform, idk how, idk if saiouma will be included that much, in which kokichi wakes up in pregame, obsessed shuichi saihara, saiouma isnt major, this fanfic is a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-04-06 14:59:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19064989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qantaish/pseuds/Qantaish
Summary: When Kokichi woke up the next day, he realized he wasn't in the killing game anymore.





	1. Unusual

**Author's Note:**

> I accidentally deleted the whole fanfic when i realized i uploaded chapter 3 twice oops  
> anyway, if you're new here, thanks for deciding on viewing my fanfic!  
> If you didn't know, Kokichi somehow wakes up in the past when everyone were their pregame selves :))

Kokichi opened his eyes. It was like any other day, wake up, get ready, walk out, and pretend. So he started with the first thing- waking up.

He scrambled with the blankets over him, pulling out his arm from the mess of sheets and rubbing the tiredness from his eyes. He blinked a few times, just gazing up at the roof. He felt as if...

something was wrong.

When this feeling dazed upon him, he quickly sat up in his bed. But he immediately regretted it once he felt a sharp headache stab his brain and making him extremely nauseous. He held his head, shutting his eyes tight as if it would help him get over the pain. The only thing it did was make his head feel like it was being pulled apart. He waited for it to ease, and then it vanished just as fast as it appeared.

Where was he?

He was met with a room, far from how the dorm he was assigned with looked like. It was cramped, a smell he didn't know existed coming from it, yet it was disturbingly familiar. The source of the dim light came from a single lamp put in the ceiling. The light was damp, a soft cover of gentle light plastered over the room. Piles of clothes scattered across the room like masses of filth in a dump, the smell having resonated from the cloth in particular. It almost made him pinch his nose as it burned his smelling sense. His eyes picked up on the closet that stood tall against one of the walls, a dirtied brown color stuck to it. It looked like it had been there for a very long while. There was a single nightstand beside the bed, he noticed, where a square object was lying. He reached out to it and picked it up with curious eyes. It was a phone with a purple case. His eyes caught something that was also attached to the phone, and he picked it up to closer inspect what it was.

It was a Monokuma charm.

The conclusion immediately rushed to his mind. He must still be in the killing game. This could be some part of a motive that Monokuma put up.

With that thought in mind, he jumped up from the bed and onto the floor, looking around the room once more. It really was tiny. He decided to look more into the phone. Maybe he could find something interesting on it?

The light from the phone's earlier cold black screen pierced his eyes once he clicked the square button on the bottom of the phone. He flinched at the brightness, hesitantly turning his head slightly to the side to avoid the light, then managed to adjust to the light and turned back to continue. He registered a wallpaper, a normal one, just a simple scenery of a forest and a lake. It looked like one of those suggested pictures for your computer background.

He checked the time. 4:20 pm. Friday. He tried to swipe the phone open but sighed once he saw the frustrating password scene. It was a shame you couldn't lockpick phone passwords like you can lockpick door locks. Maybe he should learn to hack?

He then decided to pocket the phone, but then he realized what he was wearing. It was a simple grey shirt with soft and comfortable dark pants. He was also wearing warm socks, heating his feet to an extent. He wondered when he put those on? It was suspicious. Well, everything was suspicious right now.

He made his way to the closet, opening it to check inside. His eyes danced across the different types of outfits neatly folded on the height differenced shelves. He noticed a school uniform, it was a completely black outfit. Everything else was cloth best put on for occasions like staying home and having a sleepover, almost like a pajamas outfit. Well, except for the white hoodie resting at the far back of the middle shelf that he had just taken notice of.

He shuffled the clothes around, seeing if there was anything else inside. When spotting something, he grabbed it and held it up.

It was a checkered scarf.

With a look of relief from seeing it, he pulled it to his chest and hugged it close with a satisfied look, like a mother who just found their child after years of searching. It was the only sense of familiarity he had seen since he woke up in this place. The first thing coming to mind though, was how his scarf could've been here? Monokuma must've put it here, nobody else could have done it. Or is he overlooking it? Maybe there's something else than the killing game to this situation? He hummed to himself.

He quickly pulled off the shirt he was wearing, throwing it on the floor, then giggled slightly as he tried on the white hoodie. He found a little amusement in it. If this was someone else's room for  _some odd reason_ , he'd be stealing their clothes. If it was his clothes, it'd be normal that he'd be wearing them. Right? He pulled on the hoodie over his head, dragging it down his upper body so it would fit. He then took ahold of the scarf, tying it around his neck and adjusting it.

He kept the pants on, though. They were quite comfy.

Kokichi smiled.

He just stole somebody's clothes, or it's at least what he thought he did. He wondered how that person would react to it, seeing him in their clothes. He giggled at the mischievous thought, putting the phone in his pocket and jumping over to the door.

Peeking into the room outside of the bedroom, he saw a tiny kitchen and a tiny living room merged into one slightly bigger room. At least it was bigger than the bedroom. He scanned the area of people since there could still be someone here, after all, he shouldn't just wander around aimlessly. If he did run into someone, though, he'd just lie like always. When finding nobody, he slipped into the room, browsing around the choice of furniture.

In the living room, there was a small table with a couch fitted for two or three people, a pretty ordinary tv, and a small lamp sitting on the table.

Walking past, he entered the rusty kitchen.

He started opening the cupboards and searching for any food. Of course, there were normal things like flour or cereal. Nothing too special. He sighed for what felt like the 40th time. It was a very average house that, he supposed Monokuma, set up. This taste would fit the plainest of them all, Tsumugi. Maybe she should've woken up here instead of him. When he got to the fridge, however, he immediately spotted the purple colored drinks standing on the middle shelf. He smiled, grabbing one and opening it with a fizz. He didn't realize just how dry his throat had been until he started drinking the soda, letting the fluid run down his spine to ease it.

When drinking nearly the whole drink, he let out a sigh of satisfaction. Why was there even Panta in the fridge? If Monokuma designed these rooms, it would make sense. But the rooms were still awfully normal, so there could still be other conclusions as to why he is in this situation.

He spotted another door, a doormat aligned with it. Shoes were scattered on the floor around it, one pair looking awfully similar to his own. He sipped up the last bit of the drink, before putting it on the counter, heading towards the said shoes.

Most clues lead to it being Monokuma's doing. But maybe he wasn't even in the killing game anymore?

No, that was impossible. He shouldn't search for hope.

He stepped into the shoes, burying his feet in them, then adjusted them so it would fit nicely on his foot by tapping it on the mat. He kind of expected them to fit on him perfectly considering how everything else seemed to be placed after him.

With a breath, he grabbed ahold of the doorknob, turning it to finally enter the outside of wherever he was, whether it was a dorm, house, or apartment, he didn't know.

The first thing he registered was the long hallway going across the outside of his room, followed by several other doors along with it. The hall was lit up more than in the room he had been in, blinding his eye just a little bit as he was caught off guard by the strong shine.

There were number plates on each one. He closed the door behind him, looking back at his own number plate. "7". He figured more people lived in these rooms. Maybe it was the other ultimates?

Kokichi wanted to further investigate the situation, then walked straight forward to the door in front of him. It held the number "6", the plate sitting firmly on the door, just like all the others. There was no bell, he noted. Reaching his hand up to knock on the door, he slammed his fist against it. It wasn't really a hard knock, but not a gentle one either. He decided on knocking in the tune of All Star for fun.

He waited for a few seconds, or maybe minutes, he didn't really know, but he got impatient real quick when there was no answer by the door. Was there even anybody in there? Just as he was about to knock once more, the door opened slightly with a small click.

"Oh-"

Kokichi heard a voice, an awfully similar voice, Covered in a wall that was scraped out by Kaede when she told him about how he should be more confident. The walls remnants were still left on the floor of his voice, bringing him to trip on those remaining pieces as his voice was still shaking and having breaks of stutters. The awkwardness in his voice made Kokichi make a mental note to remind him that he should just start shouting in confidence already. But he'd probably forget that later since he has other things to worry about right now.

"Ouma-kun?"

There he was, the detective himself, standing behind the gap of the door. The exact moment he registered it was Kokichi behind the door, Shuichi pushed the door to open up a bit more.

Kokichi just looked at him, noticing the hat placed back on his head, covering his strang of dark blue hair. That damn emo hat. It hid his golden eyes, letting a shadow cast over the top half of his face. It was like the shimmering light in his eyes was removed by the protective shield of his hat. He wondered why he was wearing it again, considering how he took it off for the sake of Kaede's wish. This confused him, but of course, he didn't let it show. His eyes wandered down to his clothes. They were different, for sure. Just like how he had different clothes. Well, he couldn't exactly find anything else close to his- amazing- outfit. Shuichi, though, only wore a school uniform.

"Hi, Saihara-chan!" Kokichi waved his hand with a bright smile, displaying happiness towards him. For some reason, Shuichi was looking across his choice of outfit, pupils traveling around.

A mischievous smirk formed on his lips "Hm? Are you checking me out?"

"Sorry, uhm, I noticed you're wearing the scarf today." He pointed his finger at the checkered cloth around his pale neck "I don't usually see you wearing it"

"Huh? But I always wear it!" He grabbed at the said scarf with a pout, fiddling with the ends of it as it was the topic of their conversation.

Shuichi shot him a confused glance, looking at him like he was dumb "But the only time I saw you wearing it was when we were watching Danganronpa together last time?"

'Danganronpa?'

Kokichi tilted his head at the word he had never heard about before. When would him and Shuichi watch anything anyways? They only went to the AV room once and he is certain he wasn't watching anything called 'Danganronpa' then.

Something was definitely wrong.


	2. View

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi is invited to watch Danganronpa with Shuichi.

"Speaking of, you came a bit early, the first part doesn't start airing until 5 pm, remember?"

Well, Kokichi decided on playing along with it. For fun.

"Yeah, I wanted to come early. I had nothing to do anyway!"

"Oh"

Shuichi looked awkwardly at him. What was even going on? There were so many conclusions he had to this situation that he couldn't put words into one, but something wrong had definitely occurred when he had last gone to sleep in his dorm. He wondered how this would affect his plans, he still needed to end the killing game after all.

"Anyway" The detective stepped back a bit, a gesture performed when one is inviting another into a house via a door. "You can come in now if you want. We can talk before the episode airs"

The liar nodded, stepping inside with a sweet smile played on his face. His eyes quickly scanned around the room and taking in the... posters?

The whole room was filled with pictures of characters, the most noticeable was a big poster with the name "Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc", following a set of characters. One character seemed to be repeated, a long light purple haired girl. It seemed like a room fit for a nerd like Tsumugi. What was all this doing in Shuichi's room? Action figures were on display of various other characters who seemed to have unique designs, not to mention the set of manga on all the bookshelves which also seemed to be related to this 'Danganronpa'.

He decided not to comment on the fact, continuing to play along with this weird pretend that Shuichi had gone into. He could think of what was happening later.

"So what do you think will happen this episode? Well, nothing that interesting ever happens in daily life, but still, what do you think?" Shuichi sat down comfortably on a couch that he had just noticed existed. His eyes had been prying over to the posters almost the immediate moment he went in. He just now realized that the room looked eerily similar to the one he had woken up in, the same furniture and all. The TV seemed much better in quality though.

He decided on taking a seat beside him, the couch softly bouncing as he placed himself down on it. It was quite comfortable, but still a bit stiff. He then went back to thinking about how he should respond to what Shuichi had just said, thinking over the question. He decided on throwing it right back at him.

"I dunno, what do you think will happen?"

"Well, I think Akiko will get some character development after Fujita killed Michiko, she really looked up to him after all, and now that it turns out he was the blackened killer, Akiko will be devastated. She'll fall into despair, but will recover from it and become a stronger person from it. She seems to have a lot of character potential. I discussed it online today actually" He rambled on, Kokichi almost losing track of what he was talking about in the middle of the response. He was confused by his choice of words and had no idea who these people were, but they were apparently in this show he could guess. It kinda reminded him of the killing game, making him just slightly nauseous.

"Very interesting, Saihara-chan!" He clasped his hands together, pretending he even cared to listen to the other. Shuichi seemed to be taken aback by his antics for some odd reason. He shook it off, giving him a tender yet almost creepy smile "Thank you, I've been theorizing ever since the last episode. This season was actually pretty hard to figure out. In the past seasons they-" and so started the ultimate rambling that Kokichi could care less about.

He just watched the emo boy talk passionately about this strange show with an obsessed smile creeping on his features. His eyes were filled with emotion, swirling around as if despair had collided with hope and formed into a disappointing mess of a natural disaster. The way he talked about the show as if it was the only thing that mattered in the entire world almost sent shivers down Kokichi's spine, feeling as if every word he said was followed by blood pouring out of every part of his skin. He wasn't even paying attention to him speaking, yet he could feel the aura from him. Like digging into a hole, he was digging himself into a pit where he would just talk about it more and more until finally, he stopped.

"-speaking of the new motive, the episode is about to start! We almost missed it!" Grabbing the remote, Shuichi clicked a button to reveal the things displayed on the channel that the TV was currently set to, lighting up the screen. "Let's watch it!"

Kokichi was confused over what had happened to Shuichi. He was now literally just an obsessed maniac over this show. Maybe Kokichi had fallen into a coma or something and now the detective had found a series to fanboy over. Or maybe- this was all just a different universe and somebody mixed up the files to Kokichi in the killing game to Kokichi with the messed up version of Shuichi. He wondered if something like that was even possible. Well, considering how all the things that have happened in the killing game with Monokuma, it could be a possibility.

The screen was dark, and a scene played. He suspected it to be the intro to the show, as the title was currently on display. 'Danganronpa 51'. It was a pretty weird name. He wondered what it was about?  He mostly enjoyed any comedy series, but it was always fun to make fun of series with a serious plot, there was always some hilarious flaw that he liked to point out to ruin the view of the show for others, or to make people who were a fan of it get furious over it.

A set of character was shown, and he started to count them out of curiosity. There were 16 people who looked about their age. It reminded him of the killing game.  _That horrible game_. This coincidence shouldn't be overlooked, he thought. It was odd that the number of people on the screen were the exact same amount of students that were forced into the killing game. He could be overthinking it, but he knew not to forget about it.

It then started, the camera showing what looked like a rotten hallway. You you practically feel just how nasty it smelled from that room, and Kokichi couldn't help but flinch a bit as he imagined the terrible scent from within that room- dead plants like leather mixed together with the foot sweat you'd smell in a school's changing room, with a forced coldness shivering up your nose as you inhaled- he wouldn't want to be there. The door on the end of the hallway then opened slowly, the shadow of several people on the other end. Voices resonated as they walked into the room, questioning tones in them while footsteps were heard. Some were complaints, though.

Kokichis eyes averted over to Shuichi, who held an intense stare at the screen. He was completely engulfed in the show, the look in his eyes grew to look like it was desperately latching onto the show and taking in every detail, his surroundings disappearing completely as his sharp pupils cut the world off from what he was seeing on the TV. Everything that mattered in his eyes was Danganronpa, the light display reflecting in his golden eyes, a slightly open smile stretching to his cheeks as he watched what looked like just some people talking to each other about the hallway they were in, their appearances looking so unique one would think they were ultimate students. This Shuichi was completely different from the one who knew before, having an obsessive behavior over this television show. He'd rather not watch that overly fascinated face, turning back to look at the TV.

He didn't pay much attention to the scene until he saw a familiar face on the screen. Was that... Monokuma? His eyes widened as he watched the bear laugh, talking with the other people there. Why was he there? Should he ask Shuichi? Well, he didn't seem like a reliable source, he'd rather not talk about it with him. So, he didn't mention it. He only watched as Monokuma blabbered on about something that was probably not interesting.

The show continued, but Kokichi spaced out several times, so many he couldn't even count himself, but when he all of a sudden heard heavy breathing from beside him, his focus returned to the world around him. His surroundings reached him as he couldn't help but look at the screen, eyes gluing to the TV at the sight displayed. There was a bloodied body on the screen, no doubt dead, as a substance was spread around it and framing it like a picture. He'd then pay attention to the breathing that he had noticed earlier, looking to the side from where it came from. The sight he saw made him think Shuichi had a very disturbing fetish.

He was red in the face, a blush covering most of his face as all his blood rushed to his head. His breathing was exaggerated as if he had just sprinted until he was out of breath, air filling his lungs sharply as his eyes never left the screen. The smile he had never seen on Shuichi's face before extended, visible sweat pouring from his forehead and down past his cheeks. Kokichi thought this was extremely creepy but hilarious at the same time.

After the image of the death had disappeared from view, the other had noticed Kokichi's gaze on him, switching his focus onto the shorter boy.

"Sorry, you know I always get excited at this part" scratched his cheek awkwardly as he seemed to settle down from his earlier state, but the blush still remaining. Probably from embarrassment, he guessed. Kokichi let a smirk form on his lips.

"Someone could start to think you get horny over this show if you keep doing that! Or maybe you do?"

He immediately started to panic at hearing those words. "Wait- I don't!"

"Really?"

"The deaths in Danganronpa are just so... pretty. There's so much to them. The blood is pretty around their bodies, their lifeless corpse looking pale and rotten, and I can never forget the complete mystery to it! It's fascinating, really! But that's not the only reason I watch this show" The way he described it made Kokichi's insides twist. How could somebody love seeing a dead body? It was just insane. Maybe if he said that to people they would think he was even crazier than before? Maybe his plan would succeed more- but he didn't even know how he got into this situation, or how to even get back to the others and the killing game. He wasn't sure he even wanted to go back, but this Shuichi was way more messed up than the one he knew. Had he changed completely or was this just temporary? Was Monokuma behind this? Maybe it was all just a simulation?

"Really? Kinda seems like you watch it just to get off to it, like porn!"

"I-I said I don't!"

"Well, okay then! You totally don't make a pervy face and start sweating because you're getting turned on by death"

Shuichi decided on focusing back to the show instead since he took more interest in it than to respond to Kokichi, who did the same. After watching everybody react to the supposed corpse of a male, the screen faded into darkness with the credits starting to roll, followed by a 'too be continued', the people in the show being on displayed just like the intro, except this time the person who died was crossed off by a painted symbol on their shadowed figure.

Kokichi then proceeded to take up his phone from his hoodie pocket. The episode had been half an hour. He put it on the table, then leaned back into the couch with his hands placed behind his head. "Well, what do we do now?"

"Uhm, I thought we would..." he awkwardly shifted in the couch "We could do what we usually do and... browse on the internet. You've been looking forward to being able to see the spoilers, remember?"

Of course, Kokichi didn't remember that. he didn't remember anything Shuichi had said! Everything he had been telling him was total nonsense!

He then lied to bring the conversation to another topic and to shift their next action. He really didn't feel like just sitting on his phone when someone was nearby. Or maybe he could've sneaked away? He couldn't really unlock the phone anyway. "Supreme leaders don't need to use their phone! I only use computers!"

"Uhm, Ouma-kun, we aren't in the roleplay forum right now" Shuichi gave him a disapproving gaze "You've been acting like your character the moment you got here, you don't have to do it all the time you know"

What did he mean character? He was just acting like he always does! If Shuichi had a problem with his personality, he should just leave. Well, Kokichi would just go back to him anyway, it wasn't like anybody in the killing game didn't despise his antics. "Hm? Character?"

"Please" the pleading caught him kind of off guard, even considering he had no idea what he was talking about. It sounded so genuine that Kokichi would've given him a weird look, but that would make him look sensitive to begging.

"Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Guess I can't force you then"

With those words, Shuichi sat up on from the couch, a slight squeak coming from it as the weight shifted. Kokichi felt the couch pillow he was sitting on float upwards to adjust to one person's weight, and considering how light he was, it was a drastic change. "You want anything?"

"Grape Fanta!"

"Of course" He smiled lightly as if he already knew way ahead of that he would make that decision. Kokichi was debating whether this Shuichi knew him or didn't know him at all, and he was having a hard time.

Walking into the kitchen part of the room, Shuichi made his way to the fridge that was placed exactly opposite to how Kokichi's fridge had been placed. He opened it, letting chill air let out from it, cooling down the unnoticeably warm room. The requested drink was taken out of the cold space and placed on the clean counter. Kokichi only sat on the couch, his foot wagging slightly at the edge of the couch with a look of boredom located on his features. Overwhelming silence was in the area as the boring sequence of Shuichi making coffee was heard across the room, the sound of warm liquid pouring into a cup filling his ears as the quiet atmosphere easily let the sounds spread to all walls.

When the coffee was done, Shuichi came back with both of the drinks in hand, placing them on the table and taking back his seat. The couch's weight was once again changed when the other placed himself, dropping it down only a little bit, but noticeable.

"Why didn't we drink during the show? And you forgot the snacks!" Kokichi immediately complained, cutting the silence like a sharp knife against soft petals, breaking it.

"Oh, you told me you didn't like eating while watching movies..."

"Why wouldn't you have stuff to eat on when watching movies! Gosh, Saihara-chan, you're hopeless!" That last word seemed to trigger something is the other, the reason being far away from Kokichi's grasps as he could only watch helplessly as he started to ramble again.

"But aren't all Danganronpa fans hopefull? Every ending of the Danganronpa is filled with hope! The answer is always hope! Everything that happens will eventually end with despair losing and hope winning! Like Komaeda said! Isn't he your favorite character?"

That seemed like a character that would belong to Danganronpa. Not sure why but it just would. If he ever heard Shuichi rambling about this show again he would make sure to shut his mouth for good because it was pissing him off.

"Who's this cum-aeda?"

"You forgot?" Huh, didn't even react to the nickname. That's lame. I expected at least an offended reaction or something.

"Sorry, I just don't know what I'm supposed to remember you nasty goose"

"But even your wallpaper is Komaeda, look-" Shuichi reached to grab the phone that Kokichi had placed on the table earlier when checking the time, then swiping it open. For some strange reason, he knew his password, tapping it down on the phone like he was a professional in doing it. He then turned the phone around to show the view of the phone screen to him. And indeed, there was some white-haired guy in the background with a long green jacket. He had no idea who this character could be, the appearance not striking familiar to him at all. If he did remember anything about it, then it probably was way too vague for him to notice.

"I have no idea who this mop guy is"

Shuichi sighed pulling down the phone to table where it was located before he picked it up "I know you're trying to make me feel better by showing me your roleplay side in real life, but this is taking it too far, if you'd like to we could go back to that roleplay forum we were on last week, if that's what's bothering you"

Kokichi had no idea what he was even talking about. The reply that he'd tell him would just be like he replied before, confused questions shooting at him, not really getting them anywhere considering he had 'forgot' everything.

"If you think I'm 'roleplaying' right now" He empathized the word using his fingers "...then you're totally right! I was figuring about doing it in real life, so I'm just testing it out! You have nothing to worry about!" He smiled, the lie spitting out perfectly from his untruthful lips, deceiving Shuichi into thinking he knew what he was talking about when in reality he had not the slightest clue of what he was saying. It seemed to work, his once tensed up shoulders sinking down as he let a sigh wash his body into relaxation, leaning into the couch.

"Okay then"

The silence ruled the room once again, the tick of a clock filling the quiet area. An empty cup and bottle placed on the table in front of them as time had passed of them just sitting there, an awkward atmosphere surrounding them. That was until gold eyes averted to check on the clock that was giving out sharp sounds throughout the room at every passing second. Then, his voice cut the silence.

"Hey, didn't you tell me you were going to hang out with Miu after we finished this episode?"


	3. Swarm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi did not look forward to meeting Miu.

Kokichi suddenly found himself in the hallway

Maybe it had been a long sequence, but it seemed like only a brief moment as he had said goodbye to that weird Shuichi with a snarky remark, then entering the outside of his room. Apparently, from the information he heard, he was supposed to meet up with Miu, which he was not looking forward to.

Miu.

She had planned to kill him using the virtual world, and he had offered to cooperate with her on it. Planning with Monokuma about the secret of the outside world. Seeing Miu lie about the virtual world's map and features. Giving Gonta the motive to make him help him. Seeing Gonta think up such a gruesome way to end everyone's pain. Watching as Miu was choked before his own eyes, the toilet papers strained fabric pulling around her virtual neck as her body spazzed from shook, sending her eyes wide as she could only stare back at him with a shocked expression. She didn't even have time to react as the breath in her lungs flew out like a sharp breeze, her face going pale as her real body suffocated. Gonta's tears spilling down on the top of her hair and mixing up her strands as if they weren't already a mess.

He had to look at them like it was the best thing he had ever seen.

But, he hated it.

Seeing Miu struggle as she came to the verge of her death, it was a horrible sight. Death did not appeal to him at all, the sheer nature of it sending his stomach to churn. The real face he'd pulled in front of that sight would've looked more... guilty. Guilty that he had to make Gonta the bloodied culprit of the trial since he himself needed to be alive. Making Miu feel as her lungs emptied and her vocal cords shattered from the strength of the blackened's pull. It was selfish, really. But... it was the only way.

But now, somehow the supposed dead was alive once again and he was about to meet her. He wondered if she was any different- taking the way Shuichi had been acting into account. Why would he even meet up with her? This was all strange, really.

He didn't know if he could face Miu. Even so, he walked the mat across the different types of doors, a light thought soothing to his mind. He pondered over the rooms, and what this was. An apartment? It looked awfully much like one, but was that really it?

The number 12 sat on the door that the fanboy had told him about, reflecting the light from the lamp that was placed close to it. He stood there for a while, just looking at the door with a blank stare. The thought of seeing Miu again made him feel nauseous, and he just wanted to run away from this horrible situation. If he went back to the room he woke up in, then maybe he could just be content, and never interact with anybody else again. Ever.

This idea shattered once the door shot open, and a mess of hair strands waved in the air. His body flew back in a state of shock as it almost hit him. There stood Miu, an overly annoyed expression on her face as her foot was stomping impatiently. "Hey, fuckface! Grow a pair and approach the door already!" Kokichi couldn't help but look at her for a moment, eyes unable to abandon the motion he had gone in. Her clothing was different, just like his and Shuichi's. But that wasn't the major thing right now. Someone he had seen smothered by paper, fall limblessly to the floor at her sudden death, was now standing in front of him, alive and well. The pure shock was easily covered by a smile.

"Sorry, I was thinking about how lame it would be spending time with some slut like you, so I was debating whether to waste my precious time or to just leave and do something better" He partly expected Miu to shiver and sink down like she always did, but her posture was all the same with the confidence and all "Well that's certainly different coming from you, did you stop being a crying bitch?"

"Crying bitch? Aren't you the one who's a bitch?"

"Ugh- just come with me!" She stepped out the door, grabbing his arm as she walked past him then pulled him with her. The motion startled Kokichi slightly, but he quickly caught up with what was going on.

She dragged him to the end of the hallway, where he realized stairs were placed. They made their way down the steps, going past a turn at the bottom to enter yet another turn. Except here there were... lockers? They were put up just like a school would put them, seemingly clean as he navigated. It felt like they had just gone from a broken down apartment to a school that could've just been tidied by a maid. Maid...

Before he knew it, they had arrived at a sort of lunch area. It partly reminded him of the dining hall back in the killing game, but it was slightly different. He then noticed a group of people sitting at a table, most of them being easily recognizable. There sat Tenko, Himiko, and Maki. The sight of them made him feel uneasy, having seen 1 of them with dead skin was a thought that could make him sick. Their presence when entering was easily recognized by the trio.

"Hey, look! It's Iruma!" That was a weird thing to hear from a coldhearted killer. The fact that she was the first one who spoke was another confusing thing.

"Okay, you go distract them while I go grab my lunch!" Miu informed him, covering the sound from reaching the people in front of them using her hand over her lips, directing the words to Kokichi's ears. "Why would I do a favor like that for a who-"

His insult was abruptly cut off by people running towards the two, footsteps stomping against the ground as they approached. Before he knew it, Miu had disappeared from his side and was now located a bit away from him, trying to get away from the small crowd. He cupped his hands around his mouth and repeated himself, this time without getting interrupted.

"Why would I do a favor for a whore like you!"

The heads immediately snapped towards him. Well, you could say he did the favor, as their attention was now focused on him, Miu slipping past them without even thinking about what he had yelled.

"What did you say?" Himiko growled angrily, the fury easily displayed on her features, much unlike how it had before. She looked almost overly angry, her face going red even to her ears.

"I said that I wouldn't do a favor for miss dirty pig?"

"No!" She stomped her foot on the ground furiously "Stop insulting her! You shouldn't say things like that to someone as cool as her!"

Cool? What did she mean by cool? They had all seemed to take a liking to Miu. This was weird considering how much she was disliked in the game. One other strange thing was how she avoided this affection, sneaking past them. He'd expect Miu to be cackling happily over finally having some sort of following, but she did the complete opposite. "Eh, I thought she looked pretty nasty, I wanted to call it out"

"Ouma? Are you okay?"

Maki's odd tone made him wince on the inside, the unfitting kindness in her voice seeping out of her as if it was normal, yet it was one of the strangest things he had ever heard. Like a cat that barks, her gentle and caring voice were put on a figure that Kokichi viewed as harsh and distant. "No, I feel horrible after I ate those poisonous mushrooms!" He put a hand over his mouth and faked a gag reflex, adding false proof to his testimony.

"Oh god! Do you need any help?" The contact of a hand on his shoulder made his body shudder. The hand lingering around his neck tightening as her cold crimson eyes, like blood, glared at him with a fury so strong that it could kill him alone. The hitched breathing coming from his throat as he tried desperately to grip for the air just outside his mouth. But he wasn't able to get any of it into his lungs, and his words were choked out as he could feel the fingers pressing into his skin. Yet her hand remained on his clothed shoulder, looking down at him with an odd pity in her eyes. It felt like at any moment, her eyes would return and she'd grab his throat, his oxygen spitting from his mouth in the instant yet again. So he inhaled deeply, handing over a smile.

"That was a lie"

If he'd say that he enjoyed having a nice Maki instead of an assassin Maki, he'd be lying. Her showing all this kindness was practically suspicious, the way she changed completely. It felt as if she could stop at any moment and tell him right in his face just of how fake she had been before. So, Kokichi wasn't going to fall for this act anytime soon. He actually despised the fact that Maki was nice. He'd rather much have her be a cold killer, where he can easily check on her, rather than a caring person who could turn out to have been faking it this whole time.

"Lying isn't good, you know" Maki sighed in relief at knowing he wasn't actually poisoned, and to Kokichi's satisfaction, let go off his shoulder. "But... are you really okay? You've been acting weird since you went in here. You weren't like this during school"

He almost laughed at that comment "I could say the same to you!"

"Now that you mention it, O-Ouma has been acting strange! I-Isn't he usually a coward?" The stuttering in Tenko's voice seemed a little out of place, he thought. He wasn't surprised though, everybody has been acting weird ever since he woke up in that room. It was like Kirumi decided to sweep away all the confidence in the poor little aikido master, she looked so fragile when she couldn't protect herself! When he looked a bit closer at her, an image of her death flashed in his mind. Her body laying on the floor under all of the materials used for the seance as the floorboards coated with the blood from the wound in her head. Blood was easily seeping from under the cloth covering the cage. Her state was only discovered when the cage got pulled off by Himiko. Then, when she realized her tragic fate, just stared at the lifeless corpse of her friend almost during the whole investigation, eyes not wandering to go anywhere else. Her emotions had been enclosed into a bottle, a leak never spilling out until he had finally decided to step in and get her to wail with tears streaming already. She needed to cry it out, after all.

Speaking of Himiko, a reply of consent came from her "Yeah, he's a wimpy coward" This, of course, offended Kokichi in a great amount. But before he could argue back, Miu had grabbed his wrist again and he almost yelped at the sudden contact.

"Oh- w-we forgot about Iruma!" They all snapped their head to where the inventor was when they heard Tenko's words. Kokichi was afraid they'd break their neck if they kept doing that.

The sharp footsteps could be heard as he was dragged away with Miu, barely keeping up at first as he had done before, but then adjusted to her speed "Let's go, shrimp!" He saw a glance of the others as he left, noticing them coming forward to the two. When they were out of his sight, he turned forward to look at the path Miu had taken, then realizing he had no idea where they had just gone so he would probably not be able to get back to where he was at the start of this crazy day. But that didn't matter too much to him.

Well, this encounter was weird. First of all, they had all been wearing different clothes, most noticeably Himiko not having a hat on her head. All the outfits they'd been wearing had looked so odd. They all had different personalities, too. Maki was sweet, Tenko was nervous and Himiko reacted over the top. Not to mention that they all seemed to admire Miu, who should, in reality, have been sparkling with happiness at the attention, yet she avoided them the best she could. They all commented on how he was acting, too, much like Shuichi did before. Why wouldn't a supreme leader act as a supreme leader?

Kokichi then realized just how obedient he'd have been. Well, more of having to be forced with Miu, but still. He let her grab him twice now, having to follow her orders on what to do. Yet this action felt... strangely familiar. Like a faint picture of this was buried in his mind. It felt like one of those moments you'd get a nauseous flashback over the events that just happened as if you had done them before.

When Miu came to a halt, Kokichi got out of his train of thought, peering around the area they were in. Still a hallway, huh. He also pulled back his hand from her grip sharply. Then, he noticed the reason she had stopped, both of their eyes looking forward at the person in front of them.

"Iruma, if you were going to use him like that again, I'd of let him stay with me" a sigh came from the male that he was currently looking at.

Kokichi stuck his tongue out to Shuichi in a childish manner "To tell you the truth, I had a much better time with Miu then with you!"

They both were confused, to say the least, sparing him odd glances as they looked at him. Kokichi would've called them out on it, but he didn't care enough at the moment. There was also a noticeable frown coming from the blue-haired boy.

"Hey, has the twink been acting weird to you too? He usually isn't this bratty!" Miu placed her hand on Kokichi's shoulder with more violence than needed, making him feel uncomfortable yet again. This tug was far more forceful than Maki's, making his body push down for a moment. Why was everyone so touchy with him?

"Don't touch me!" His growls were ignored, and a response from Shuichi was earned "I suppose he did act strange. I told him about it before" The liar became pretty upset with how they ignored his presence completely "Stop acting like I'm not here!" He whined, throwing his fists up and down stubbornly. "I can hear everything you're saying! It's not nice to talk about someone who's listening!"

"We weren't saying anything bad about you though..." Shuichi cocked his eyebrow, a slight sweat pouring down his face at the antics of the other. The smaller boy crossed his arms in return. "But still! It's rude!"

"Shut up gremlin man! And tell us what's up with the way you're acting!"

This led Kokichi to definitely believe he was in some kind of different universe where everybody had a different personality. Wow, sounds like a stupid plot line for a fanfiction. "Well, miss robo-fucker, I decided on getting a change in personality. I was sooo boring before"

"Don't worry, it's probably just a phase"

"It's not!"

All sides of the conversation had a thing to be confused about- but mostly Kokichi- considering how he woke up in a random place with all the participants of the killing game who were supposed to be dead, completely healthy with a brand new personality and wearing a new outfit. He'd thought he'd gone mad from all this already, surprised himself of how content he had been up to this moment.

"Anyway, Ouma, I told you to stay away from Iruma when you suspect that she's gonna do something suspicious"

"You're the one who told me to go!"

"That was more of a... reminder... I didn't think she'd drag you into her business with getting her lunch without being interrupted" Shuichi eyed the lunch box held in one of her hands. It was medium size, colored in black and pink. When she noticed his glance, she gripped at the box tighter. "Look, I need to eat food! If I don't, I'll starve!"

He cocked an eyebrow "So you use Ouma for that?"

"Yeah? Got a problem with that?" He nodded confidently. The girl then held up the box for a moment and afterward glanced at the other end of the hallway "eh, I gotta go eat this now, since I'm starving" she then walked off "bye losers!"

He sighed and turned to the purple haired boy "Ouma, try not to make people use you, it's the same with Am-" before he could finish his sentence, a blonde girl walked right in between the two boys, pushing them out of the way in the process with her glare steadily set straight in front of her.

"Get out of my way, disgraces"

Kokichi was very, very, surprised to see Kaede of all people push them aside like they were both trash. It was a completely opposite action that would've never been performed by the pianist from where he came from. This was just straight up cold, no fun at all. A typical cliche Maki performance, if he'd compare. But, Kaede? The person who told everyone that they could escape together and then become friends? He knew she'd act different, but this was just blowing his mind. It was all wrong, twisted and crushed. He shouldn't have been surprised, he expected this, but seeing her do this one action made him feel so indifferent like atoms had been misplaced to form a disaster. He really felt like getting out of here, and go back to where everybody acted like he knew they would, and how he knew what to expect from them, and not all these new personalities where they acted all messed up. Cold like ice, melted by nothing, not even boiling lava. It was so strange that it was horrible, really.

What really made him explode, was how Shuichi looked at Kaede. It wasn't like how he looked at her before, no no, no way. It was out of disgust. As if she'd just done the worst thing possible. An ugly glare at her backside that didn't affect the blonde in any way, her hands swaying at her sides while she just walked away from them, heading who knows where.

He felt a pair of eyes on him and he quickly changed to look at Shuichi.

It wasn't like he normally looked at people, he noted. He felt more... exposed, when he was viewed by him. Like he was eyeing every single detail. Navigating the way he acted to a full extent, unlike the detective he knew. He'd usually avoid eye contact and stare more to the floor, never really taking anything in but the major details. Like some face parts, or a key element to one's outfit. But this was more as if he was reading a book carefully. Re-reading every sentence to understand it's deeper meaning, trying to find out what every wording did to change the context. Then reaching the end of the page and ready to read the whole thing again.

"She didn't hurt you, did she?" Feet gently placed themselves on the ground as he saw the golden eyes reach closer to his face, his arm out protectively as if Kaede had just ripped him to shreds.

"Of course she did! Akamatsu broke my lungs with her curse infected touch!" He cried, whining over such an easy lie to pull off. Fake tears streamed down from his eyes as Shuichi seemed to step back, making Kokichi feel just a bit less uncomfortable.

"Curse infected touch? Interesting... how did it feel?" What? Well, that was not a Shuichi like a response. But hey, he'd been acting weird since the moment he saw him, so he guessed it was fine.

Rubbing his eyes as he sniffed, his watery pupils looked up at the supposed detective with another lie easily rolling out of his throat "It felt like my heart broke into a million pieces! Worse than being rejected!"

"Now now, it's okay, we can rewatch an earlier season of Danganronpa if you'd like? We can watch your favorite! It's fine!"

"Really?"

"Yeah"

"Wow, Saihara-chan, you're a bad detective if you fell for that curse infected touch thing I made up"

Kokichi frowned.


	4. Follower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being used sucks. Especially if you're meant to be a supreme leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long!!! I'll try to update when I can :)   
> <3 thanks for reading!!

"a bad detective?"

"Yeah! if that's your talent why do you suck so much at calling out my lies! Hey... what are you even doing here out in the hall? Weren't you in your room...?" Kokichi placed a finger on his chin in thought, his lips pursed outwards as if he was faking that he was deep in thought, eyes gazing around the hallway like he was thinking over how to disassemble the trick behind optical illusions.

"Talent...? I don't think I'd have a talent as great as Kirigiri's! She's way better than me! Not to mention that ultimate talents don't exist in this boring world"

'Ultimate talents don't exist?' Kokichi thought as he gave a silly face to the boy. In return, Shuichi just looked at him, eyes scanning his face yet again. The confused leader then changed his expression into a more suggestive state, wiggling his eyebrows until he saw the other stop looking at his face. 'Goal achieved' he thought as he giggled to himself.

"Sooo... wanna watch Danganronpa now?" Kokichi swore that every time that word came out of the others mouth his eyes glittered, sparks appearing in excitement as he mentioned the name of his obsession. He really was some crazy fanboy over this show. Kokichi found the part he had watched before disturbing, not being a fan of watching people discover dead bodies.

"I'd rather not watch through a long and boring episode again. Besides, I'd rather see a real dead body than one on-screen!"

"Do you want to see one?"

If Kokichi wasn't creeped out by Shuichi already...

"Uhm, duh! What do you think?"

"Then how about I kill myself? I've got my pocket knife with me! Maybe I could stab myself in front of you and see your despair, or maybe I'll kill someone else and face despair head-on as I'm sent to prison? Or maybe we'll both-"

He definitely was now.

"Actually..."

He barely knew how to respond to that. What he just said was not a lie, and he knew that. Was he really willing to kill somebody just for the sake of showing Kokichi a rotten body? Was Shuichi mentally stable?

He found himself extremely uncomfortable when close to him, the blue-haired boy just standing in front of him, not to mention his eyes wandering around his form as he seemed oddly close, their bodies having only a small space between them. He was also slightly taller, staring down at him with those empty eyes of his. Their gaze was met, but every second did Kokichi want to break it, separating their communication through looks. But he kept it steady, eyeing him to seem confident in his words, unlike how he felt inside. He felt sick standing close to this maniac, a cringy attempt to stop his anxiety being a stomp of his foot to send himself a bit backward. He tried to make it look as non-hesitant as possible, and it seemed to work, even though Shuichi was practically eating him with his bare eyes.

"I was thinking of killing someone myself!"

At that immediate moment, an escape path revealed itself for him, being able to finally sprint away from him. A way out was open for him to go to, which was previously locked. He'd run, dashing away from the uncomfort that was Shuichi.

"Hey, wait! I'd like to join!" He could hear him call out. He cursed under his breath as he desperately tried to keep him from catching up. Lucky for him, he seemed to become breathless a few moments after they started running. Kokichi's laughter was heard echoing throughout the hallway as he slowed down a bit to walk, then the grin on his face disappeared.

His eyes took in the area and it's contents, turning his head to look at where he was currently. It was still a hallway, but lacking the lockers.

His thoughts returned to him as he continued to walk silently down the halls, thinking over his situation. There were still some participants of the killing game that he hadn't seen yet. Maybe he could find them? Maybe he should look for somebody who had the worst personality, then see what they'd turn out like. If he found out that Kaito was still an idiot, he'd literally give up right on the spot. He wondered how he would act though, would he still be a the-impossible-is-possible idiot? Would he still believe and all that bullcrap? He didn't know, maybe he could check on him. After all, he needed some fun in this place at least, and messing with Kaito could be seen as fun.

What about the first victim? Rantaro. If he'd seen him after not having heard his voice or seen him move for so long, he wouldn't know if he could handle it. Miu, Tenko and Kaede had already put a toll on him, he'd rather see someone he hadn't seen die. Like Keebo or Tsumugi. He had other thoughts about everyone... would Ryoma still strive to his own death? Maybe he disliked kittens? Maybe he never went to jail? Would Kirumi be childish? Angie might be less of a god worshipper, and Korekiyo might just be a normal guy and not creepy at all. What if Gont-... maybe he could think about this later.

When he came to a halt to look up, there seemed to be a dead-end to this overly long hallway, a door standing exactly in front of him. There was a sign on it that read 'gym', the place where everybody first meets before the killing game started. But no, this was a different area now. It's a completely different gym, not like the game at all, because Monokuma wasn't here, nope.

His hands decided on opening the door, shooting it open quite slowly considering the weight of the doors. Light shone from the bright gym and strained his eyes just a bit before it cleared. A silhouette of a person stood there, alone. But that wasn't what he was focused on. It was the setup of the gym.

It looked exactly like the gym in the killing game.

His terrifying thoughts were washed away as the person turned to him, their lips slightly parted as if a silent shock had come over them. It turned to a smile, a calm look plastering on their features as they approached Kokichi slowly. But he just stared back at them with a forced smile. His eyes were blank, looking up at the taller person in front of him.

Rantaro Amami.

That sickening smile on his face... it was just so... fake. It had no meaning other than to deceive people who viewed it. There was nothing positive about that forced tug at his lips other than how it made gullible people feel. It made Kokichi shiver when he watched him meet his gaze.

"Hey" he raised his arm to wave at him, much like the Rantaro he knew would do. Just a simple calm posture. This was just Rantaro, just him, he was okay. Don't think about his death. _Don't you dare._

"Hi Mr. Greenman" He replied, the expression he was making remaining perfectly still as his mind kept telling him not to stress out.

A light chuckle came from the other at the name. "What are you doing here? You usually don't walk into the gym unless you're with Saihara" Why'd he ever walk in here with Shuichi? He grinned at him in return. "Well, what are  **you**  doing here?"

He visibly shrugged. "I was just practicing, the usual" Kokichi raised an eyebrow, his head tilting with. Does he exercise or something? Rantaro hadn't commented on his personality like most others, he noted. If he knew, he just hadn't said anything on the subject yet. "Practicing what?"

"You know I'm bad at being motivated to finish anything" he laughed a bit, scratching his neck in the process "So I'm trying my best to practice by doing my unfinished homework that was due in... nevermind"

Looking at the pile of papers behind Rantaro, it seemed to be true, words and numbers scattered across the pages and books on the floor. Why in the gym though?

He wondered if he was even doing good in school, his grades must've fallen pretty low if he can barely finish any of the work given to him. Well, Kokichi doesn't leave in his assignments either. He has way more important supreme leader stuff to do.

"So you sit on the floor? Hey, why not get some dust bunnies as friends then! They could help you with your studying!"

"Hm, okay, I might do that"

The conversation was plain and normal, but it was enough to take Kokichi away from the thoughts of what had really happened to the male in front of him.

"Hey, could you come with me?" Rantaro glanced down at the smaller boy suddenly, his gaze met when Kokichi heard him. "hm?" he hummed in response.

"I need help with something"

"With what?" His innocent purple orbs looked up at him, eyes filling with pureness as his hair swished to the side "Your homework?"

He chuckled lightheartedly at that, despite it not having intended to be funny "No, no. I just need you to follow me, don't worry" Of course, Kokichi did not trust Rantaro at all. Everything he did was suspicious after all. The mystery man, he'd call him. "Why would I follow you then? Are you gonna lead me to a white truck then lock me in there, kidnapping me?"

"No of course not! You know I'd never do that!" When the other male started sweating slightly at the words he heard, he realized just how close Rantaro was. Nobody during the killing game had even dared to stand close to him, but it seemed that everybody liked to approach him closely in this place. Which made him extremely uncomfortable, of course. So he took a simple step back, not going noticed by the other. "Reallyyy?" He pretended to look like he was navigating his face for any sign that he was lying when in reality, he already knew that the scenario he described wasn't the case.

"Yeah! You can trust me" Those words were hard to believe, but he guessed he'd follow since it sounded pretty fun "Okey! Then I'll follow you. I really expect you to kill me, so that'd be fun!"

He physically felt the confused glance from Rantaro on him, as if he had just said something strange. But he didn't react to it, just looking back at him.

Rantaro waved his hand, signaling Kokichi to follow him as he started walking to the open doors leading out of the gymnasium. He followed after him, hopping on his feet as he caught up with the other. He didn't have a clue over where he was taking him, whether it was to watch danganronpa or to distract people so he could get his lunch, he'd rather do it then do nothing. Staring at a dead man all the time was something he wasn't looking forward to though.

The books and papers were left unwanted on the floor as they stepped into the hallway, walking down it only for a few moments of utter silence.

"So where are you taking me? Your secret hideout?" Kokichi broke the quietness of the hall, gaze landing on Rantaro.

"I need to restock again" He replied.

"Restock?" He received a nod from the other as he tried keeping his pace the same as him, having to slow down a bit from time to time. "Restock what?"

"Oh you know" Rantaro always managed to sound somewhat suspicious in whatever he said, even the most innocent thing could be registered as strange to anybody listening to him. The way he always stayed relaxed during most situations as if he knew everything was also extremely suspicious. He had known about the hidden door, after all, meaning he could either have a connection with Monokuma or he just found it as Kaede and Shuichi did. Kokichi has always found his monopad strange as if it had a deeper meaning to it. Everybody had simply refused his opinion on the situation and moved on, but he just felt that there was something special about it.

"No, I don't know" He frowned at him, pouting out his lips. A sigh was earned in return, but a smile appeared later on. "Just follow me and you'll know what I mean"

Kokichi was very annoyed at how secretive he was being. Wasn't it easier to just tell him here? He also wanted to know very badly, you'd want to know everything hidden from you by a guy like Rantaro. If he kept being this secretive, he'd start to think that he was some kind of drug dealer or something, who'd go around hiding kids in his locker.

They were suddenly at a place that had a striking similarity to the dorm hallway he was at before. Rooms were piled, numbers also added onto them much like his, Shuichi's and Miu's. He looked around to see if it was the same place he had been at before but found that there were much higher valued numbers.

Rantaro leads him to one of the dorms, the number "21" shown on the door's top middle. It looked no different than the other rooms. Maybe it was Rantaro's room? He had an odd feeling about going in there.

"I need you to lockpick this door" Rantaro ordered the shorter leader calmly, his gaze shifting from being fixed on the door in front of them to the one he was talking to. He said it in a weird way as if it was completely normal for him to tell a supreme leader what to do. At this, Kokichi became very upset. Who did he think he was? Ultimate supreme leader manipulator? Is that really what his talent had been all this time? Kokichi's talent defined who he was. He was a leader, not a follower. Why would he even take orders from somebody weaker than him? Rantaro literally died the first thing he did when he came into the killing game. At least Kokichi is trying to help stop the killing game, unlike him. He was sick from even thinking about people telling him what to do, using him as some sort of slave.

His furious thoughts overwhelmed his mind. He definitely did not accept this treatment towards him. 

"Why would I pick a lock for a loser like you? I probably won't even receive anything for doing it!" He crossed his arms rather childishly. He looked like a child getting grumpy over not getting to buy his favorite toy, a stubborn expression appearing on his face "If you so badly need to open that door, then lockpick it yourself! ...Or are you too weak?"

Despite his disobeying response, Rantaro kept that smile on his face. It ticked him off so much. It was such a pretty smile, it was so kind, so disgustingly fake. Just so wrong. It was such a horrible lie put on his lips. The purple-haired boy just wanted to shatter into pieces. He desperately needed Rantaro to just fall beneath him, his smile sinking down into a sorrowed frown or an angered expression. Yet the reaction never came.

It was just a smile. A smile your mother would give you just before she'd start lecturing you and shaming you, then grounding you for what felt like years of suffering. He needed it to break. He craved for Rantaro to at least change his expression. To do anything besides smiling like he owned the whole damn place.

"I bet you called me here because you suck at doing anything by yourself! Is that why you didn't tell me before? Of course, you're just a loser" Break it. Break it. Break it.

It was so sickening. Just break already. Rot like a flower in a burning forest. Fall apart like a smashed pinata. Just take away that maddening smile on his face.

He felt a hand gently touch his shoulder, and Kokichi's skin jumped for a second.

"Ouma... You remember what happened last time, don't you?" His smile didn't break. Instead, his eyes turned dark. It almost looked like a shadow cast over the upper half of his face, covering his forehead in a darker tone than his beach skin. Kokichi's blank face stared back at him, the only thing shivering being the thoughts stored in his mind. Rantaro's hand held firmly, gripping at his shoulder as his smile smoothly extended upwards.

"If you don't do what I say, I'll do it again"

He had no idea what had happened last time, but it sure must be something utterly terrifying. You'd think Kokichi wasn't faced at all by the way his posture and expression looked, nothing hesitating or shaking in his body, and the innocent smile still playing around on his lips. But he was admittedly scared. Rantaro looked like a nightmare. He looked as if demons threatened to spill out of his eyes and eat his soul alive if he made any threatening movement.

He then felt a pat on his shoulder. It was like a father's touch, being proud of your accomplishments. But in this situation, it was viewed as a threat, or a silent sign that warned him of everything that would happen past that point if he didn't behave correctly. "I know you won't disobey me. You're my friend, right?" Friend? as if.

Kokichi could do nothing but nod in return, still smiling at Rantaro who seemed to relax from his previous state at the movement of agreement from the other. "good"

The victim let go off of his grip on the shorter boy's shoulder, letting it slide back to his side. "Will you lockpick the door now?"

"Eh, sure, looking through others stuff is fun anyway" The leader made his way to the door, successfully hiding his fear of what Rantaro was capable of. "Do you have anything I can lockpick with? I can't do it without any equipment!"

"Of course I do" Rantaro reached one of his pockets, picking out a lockpicking tool, then handing it over to the purple-eyed boy. "Here"

"Thanks for your ugly stuff" He kept a smile on his face as he easily pulled open the lock without much effort. It was a simple one, only having to twist and turn a bit before the sound of the door opening alerting him that they could go in.

He then opened the door, the door creaking slightly as he pushed it open.

"What are you gonna do in this room anyway?"

"Well, I heard rumors that this guy had a special drug stocked up in his room. I wanted to check just in case, It'll probably sell like fire"

Wow, Rantaro was a drug dealer, he totally didn't see that coming.

 


End file.
